Vehicle-lighting system.



F. CONRAD.

VEHICLE'LIGHTINGISYSTEM...

APPLICATION FILED MNL 10,191'2.

Patented 1111115, 1916.

WITNESSES INVENTOR frank Conrad ATTORNEY 'UI TED STATES PATENT-OFFICE:

FRANK CONRAD, OF swIssvALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A COBPORATIQN OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

VEHICLE-LIGHTING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Paten t e d Feb, 15, 1916.

Application filed January 10, 1912. Serial No. 670,522.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that I, FRANK CONRAD, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Swissvale, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Vehicle- Lighting Systems, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to systems of elec-' trical distribution, and particularly to such systems as are employed upon automobiles and 'siinilafmotor-driven vehicles for supplying current for lighting and other pur-- poses.

The object of my invention is to provide such an arrangement of the connections. of

' the lamps on the vehicle as to insure that their normal period of service shall not be diminished by the application of an execssive voltage to any of them.

Automobile and similar vehicles are ordinarily provided with head,' side and-tail lights, the head lights usually being of greater candle power than the others, so that, when electric lamps are employed, the head lights take a greater amount of'current than the others. Onaccount of; the comparatively large amount of current taken by the head lights,'th 'ere is no danger.

.of applying an excessive voltage thereto,

' irrespective of the speed of the generator or the degree ofcharge of the battery, because the sa1d current causes a suitable drop of potential i1. he circuits of the system.

However, when only. the side and tail lights are in use, the voltage of the system maybe in excess of the normal voltage of the lamps, particularly, when the battery is fully or nearly charged, and the smaller amount of current taken by the said lamps will be insulficient to cause a material drop of potentialin the system, with the-result that an undue voltagemay be applied to the lamps, thereby shortening their useful lives. In the present instance, a resistance is connected -in series with the side and tail lights for the purpose of preventing the application of an unduevoltage thereto.

In the single figure of the accompanying drawing, which illustrates diagrammatically asystem embodying my irgention, a generator, the armature 1 of whi is adapt-.

ed to be driven by the vehicle engine, or by any other suitable means, is provided with a centrifugal switch 4 that is adapted to complete its armature circuit only when the armature is rotatedat greater than a predetermined speed, which speed is such that the generator may produce substantially its normal voltage. The generator supplies current to a storage battery 5 through the series fieldmagnet winding and also to a distrlbutlng clrcuit comprising conductors 6 7, the series field magnet winding 3, how-' ever, being excluded from the connections between the distributing circuit and the gen erator. I

Current may betaken' from the distributingcircuit conductors 6-7 forany suitable purpose, but, as here shown, only the ve-.

hicle lights comprising "head lights 8, side lights 9 and a tail light 10, are adapted to be supplied therefrom. Thehead lights are preferably of larger candle power than the.

side lights and the tail light, and in practice may be lamps of 16 candle power, while the side and taillights may be lamps of 4 candle power. In order'to connect the lights to thedistributing circuit conductors, tw'o snap switchesll and l2 are provided, the switch 11 serving to connect only the side lights and thetail light to the 'said conductors, and .the switch 12 serving to connect only the headlights and the tail light to the said conductor. -The switch 11 is connected to the conductor 6 through, a

resistor 13 that is included in circuit with the side and tail lights whenihe switch 11 is closed, the purpose of the resistance being toslightly reduce the voltage of the distributing circuit,67 so that 'there may be no danger of applying an excessive voltage to the said lights, since the current taken by the said lamps, on account of their low candle power, is so small as to produce but a comparatively small drop of potential in-the system. This resistance is particularly useful when the battery is fully charged or nearly so, and the generator is operated at d 4 remains less, but increases, as the generator increases in speed to a value correspondmg to Something less than the average of norfull speed, since, under which conditions,

the voltage [of the distributing circuit may be somewhat above its normal value. No

resistance is included. in circuit with the headlights for the reason that they require a comparatively large amount of current on account of their com'parativelyhigh candle power, this larger amount of current servingto reduce the potential of the distribut'- I not applied to them. r I'By reason of the fact that the lamps of the system are connected directly to the armature of the generator, when the same is in operation, the battery 5 is. required to supply current to the lightsonlywhen the-@ ing circuit so that, an excessive generator is not in 0 eration, or is operating at such alow spee that its voltage is less than the battery voltage. As the lamps are generally in use only when the vehicle is in motion, and as only the side and-tail lights are necessary'and are ordinarily used when the vehicle is stationary, it is obvious that the amount'of work done by the battery is comparatively small, and that, even when the vehicle is stationary, the rate. of d1s- 7 charge is comparatively slow. For this reason, it isunnec'essary that the-battery shall always be in a fully or substantially fully charged condition, and the generator 1s, accordingly, so designed that the battery will charge at a slow rate, even when the lights are not in use. Since the currentsupplied ,to the battery passes through the series field magnet winding 3, and since, when the battery is being charged, the series field magnet winding opposes. the shunt field magnet winding 2, the generator will be inherently self regulating and its-voltagewill vary but slightly with changes in its speed. The compounding of the generator 1s preferably so adjusted that the generator voltage isless than that of the battery at the speed at which the centrifugally operated switch 4 is automatically closed, and

mal speed of thevehicle. With this arrangement, the proper rate of charging and discharging of the battery may be provided for ,With little or no danger of overcharging or exhausting the battery. Since, when the voltage of the generator is less thanthe voltage of the battery, current traverses the series field magnet winding?) in such direction that the said winding supplements the which it would otherwiseassume.

While the invention has been described as useful in connection with engine-driven vehioles,it will be understood that it may voltage is Y the other of the said devices to the distribter means' may be made within its scope. I I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a source of current, of a distributing circuitsup'plied from said source, translating devices'of diiferent capacities, means for connecting the one or uting circuit,]a resistor that is connected in 'found useful and applicable, and that many modifications .in the circuit arrangements 'serieswith the device of low capacity when v the same is connected to the distributing circuit, and meansfor shunting said resistor when all of 'said devices are connected to said circuit. 4 i

'2. The combination with a source of cur-- rent, of a distributing circuit supplied from the source, translating devices of diiferent capacities, means for connecting the one or the other of the said devicesto the"distributing circuit, and a resistor that is connected in series with the device of low capacity when the same is connectedto the distributing circuit, I 4 r 3. A lighting system for a vehicle com prising a' source of current, a distributing circuit supplied from said source, head, side and tail lights for the vehicle, means for connecting the head and tail lights to the distributing circuit, means for connecting circuit, and a resistor in series with the lat- "4. The combination with a source of electromotlve force, .of a distributing circuit the side and tail lights tothe distributing supplied from said source of electromotive force, translating devices of diiierent capacities, a-r'esistor, and means forconnecting said resistor inseries with the device of low capacitywhen the same is connected to the distributing circuit, and means for shunting said resistor when the device of high capacity is connected incircuit withthe device of low capacity.

5. In a vehicle lighting system, the com- I bination with a source of electromotive force, of a distributing circuit supplied by said source of electromotive'force, head, side and ta1l lights for said vehicle, means for ,connectingthe head and taillights t'o'the dlstlrblltl llg circuit, means for connecting the side and tail lights to the distributing circuit, a resistor in series withthe latter means, and means for shunting said resistor.

-6. In a lighting system for a'vehicle, the combination with a source of electromotive force, of a distributing circuit supplied thereby, head, side and tail lights for said vehicle, means for connecting said head and tail lights to said circuit, means for connecting said side and tail lights to said circuit, a resistor in series with the latter means, and means for shunting said resistor ,;when all of said lights are connected to said circuit. t 7 .'In a lighting system for a vehicle, the

combination with a source of electromotive force, of a distributing circuit, head, side and tail lights for said vehicles,'a resistor,

a switch for connecting the side and tail lights of said vehicle to saidcircuit in series, with said resistor, and a second switch for,

connecting the head and tail lights to said It) circuit and for shunting said resistor.

In testimony whereof, I 'havehereunto subscribed my name this 23rd day of Dec., 

